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Geography Monstrosity, the challenging and whimsical HSNCT side event, will be returning this May. I will run the tournament Friday night beginning at 11 or 15 minutes after the conclusion of ACRONYM, whichever comes later. The tournament remains free to play.

To mark GM's 10th anniversary, I have dubbed this year's tournament "GMX: Soul of a Planet." The deep cuts don't stop there, either: the set is rich with clues chosen to reward players' more arcane geographical knowledge. Tossups will run seven to eight lines long, in 10-point Times New Roman, with giveaways written to be accessible to a good high school geography player. The bonuses will skew a little harder.

I intend to write the bulk of the set myself, both to allow all interested parties to play and to ensure I have ample time to edit and repeat-check. That said, if anyone reading this is keen to collaborate, give me a shout.

I'm shooting for five packets of 10 tossups and bonuses apiece.

The set will hew to the following distribution:

2/2 North America
1/1 Latin America and the Caribbean
2/2 Europe
1/1 Asia
1/1 Africa
3/3 writer's choice (including: Australia/Oceania/Antarctica, minor islands, common links, fictional geography, exo- and astro-geography, and/or real social science that actual geographers study)

Sound good? Sign your team up or connect with other free agents here. We could use a few staffers, too. We've imposed an initial field cap of six teams, which may consist of up to five players each, of any age or affiliation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to me at g.brisontrezise at gmail.

deserto wrote:Geography Monstrosity, the challenging and whimsical HSNCT side event, will be returning this May. Due to ACRONYM's move to Friday night, we'll be holding GM Saturday night, provisionally starting at 10 p.m. The tournament remains free to play.

Is there any way that this could remain on Friday night, potentially moving later (i.e. starting as soon as the non-finals of ACRONYM finish)? There are already typically several side events on Saturday (this year, there's Math Monstrosity 2, at least one audio music tournament, and I'm sure there will be at least one more announced), each of which is longer than GM. I know it would run late, but IMO it's better than trying to compete with 2-3 other side events on Saturday. You don't have to, but I think it's worth considering.

You could even have it on Sunday since I think most people playing it are probably going to be staffers or high-performing high schoolers, almost all of whom will likely stay through Sunday. You would have to deal with finding buzzers and rooms then, though.

CPiGuy wrote:Is there any way that this could remain on Friday night, potentially moving later (i.e. starting as soon as the non-finals of ACRONYM finish)? There are already typically several side events on Saturday (this year, there's Math Monstrosity 2, at least one audio music tournament, and I'm sure there will be at least one more announced), each of which is longer than GM. I know it would run late, but IMO it's better than trying to compete with 2-3 other side events on Saturday.

Points well taken. NAQT is also apparently organizing a staffer-only side event for Saturday night. Therefore, Jeff and I have decided to keep GM in its traditional Friday-night slot. We'll post a more concrete plan here ahead of HSNCT weekend, but expect a start time of ~10:30 on Friday night. We encourage y'all to sign up now, if you intend to play.

deserto wrote:

CPiGuy wrote:Is there any way that this could remain on Friday night, potentially moving later (i.e. starting as soon as the non-finals of ACRONYM finish)? There are already typically several side events on Saturday (this year, there's Math Monstrosity 2, at least one audio music tournament, and I'm sure there will be at least one more announced), each of which is longer than GM. I know it would run late, but IMO it's better than trying to compete with 2-3 other side events on Saturday.

Points well taken. NAQT is also apparently organizing a staffer-only side event for Saturday night. Therefore, Jeff and I have decided to keep GM in its traditional Friday-night slot. We'll post a more concrete plan here ahead of HSNCT weekend, but expect a start time of ~10:30 on Friday night. We encourage y'all to sign up now, if you intend to play.

yayyyy

on a totally completely unrelated note, I'm looking for teammates for this.

GMX is just over two weeks away! I've moved the start time to 11 p.m. or 15 minutes after the conclusion of ACRONYM, whichever comes later. At just five half-packets in length, the tournament shouldn't run much more than an hour. I will post our meeting place in this thread, likely on the night of Thursday, the 24th.

We've room in the field for two more teams, so sign up now if you'd like to play! Free agents, I urge you to form a new team or ask to join an existing one. And Jeff X. and I could use help staffing; to volunteer, add your name here.

I can staff this. I've added my name to the spreadsheet.

100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan wrote:I can staff this. I've added my name to the spreadsheet.

Thanks for volunteering, Chandler. I've sent you, Jeff X., and all registered teams a short logistics email. I hereby deem the field closed; if anyone would still like to play, you'll have to ask Andrew or Jeff H. if you may join their team.

We'll meet tomorrow night in the foyer outside rooms M301 through M304, on the Marquis level. This is also the check-in spot for ACRONYM. As a reminder, we'll get started at 11 p.m. or 15 minutes after the conclusion of ACRONYM, whichever is later. Teams will play the five-packet set in round-robin fashion.

If any party wishes to mirror a short, challenging geography set this summer, drop me a line; I'll gladly provide GMX, at minimal cost.

Hi, sorry about the late drop but my team would like to drop. My two teammates had their flight delayed and will not be able to make it. Sorry again for the massive inconvenience.

DogeofVenice wrote:Hi, sorry about the late drop but my team would like to drop. My two teammates had their flight delayed and will not be able to make it. Sorry again for the massive inconvenience.

Read as "hey, there are now FA spots available!"

DogeofVenice wrote:Hi, sorry about the late drop but my team would like to drop. My two teammates had their flight delayed and will not be able to make it. Sorry again for the massive inconvenience.

Aw, that’s unfortunate... You’re welcome to play as a twosome. I encourage anyone else interested in playing GMX to email or PM me, or to show up at the M301 foyer at 11:15ish.

Thanks to all who played GMX Friday night in Atlanta, and congrats to the joint champions: Greenland's Icy Fury (Jeff Hoppes) and Harassed around Ukraine by a Corrupt Police Force (Michael Borecki, Tracy Mirkin, Jakob Myers, and Adam Swift). I've posted stats here.

If you have any feedback on the questions, you may direct it to me via PM or email (g.brisontrezise AT gmail). David Madden may be mirroring the set at the International Geography Bee World Championships in July, so it is not yet clear for discussion.